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In Jambi, local children learn to protect the environment while illegal drilling destroys it
At least one person died a few weeks ago when an oil-processing tank exploded in Pompa Air village, Bajubang district, Jambi.
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Children play near a Bornean ironwood tree, which was planted by the Prince of Wales in 2008, in the Harapan Forest in Batanghari, Jambi, on Nov. 21. (The Jakarta Post/Jon Afrizal)
It was 8:15 in the morning. About 10 children from the indigenous tribe of Batin Sembilan were playing and studying in the forest.
Six of them played and laughed near a small Bornean ironwood tree, locally known as a Bulian tree. The tree was approximately 11 years old.
The tree is native to Sumatra and Kalimantan and its presence is evidence of global support for the conservation of the local environment, which has been damaged after decades of illegal logging operations in central Sumatra, from the 1970s to the 1990s.
The tree was planted by the Prince of Wales during his visit to the Harapan Forest, the site of the first ecosystem restoration project in Indonesia, on Nov. 3, 2008.
The tree is only about 2 meters tall. But the species can grow more than 50 meters in height and its trunk can reach a diameter of 200 centimeters. The tree is both ecologically and economically valuable, caught between impulses of preservation and greed.
There are two other trees next to it. Those trees were planted by then-Forestry Minister MS Ka’ban and then-Jambi governor Zulkifli Nurdin.
The children preferred studying outdoors rather than in the classroom. There are 33 children in the Batin Sembilan tribe aged between 7 to 12 years old. They are taught a modern curriculum, which includes reading, writing and mathematics.
